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(No Model.) 2 SheetsSheet 1.

w. HOLLINGSWORTH.

UAPSTAN HEAD FEED MOTION FOR. ROPE 0R TWINE MACHINES. No. 412,708. Patented 0012.8, 1889.

INVENTUH (No Model.) 2 sheets-sheet 2. W. HOLLINGSWORTH.

GAPSTAN HB-AD FEED MOTION FO R ROPE 0B. TWINE MACHINES. No. 412,708. Patented 0 1;. 8, 1889.

UNITED STATES PATE T QFFICE.

WILLIAM HOLLINGSWORTH, or BALTIMORE, MARYLAND, ASSIGNOR To WILLIAM J. HOOPER, or SAME PLACE.

CAPST AN-HEAD FEED-MOTION FOR ROPE OR TWINE MACHINES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 412,708, dated October 8, 1889. ,Application filed 1111e26,1889. swarm. 315,671. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it'known that 1, WILLIAM HOLLINGS- WORTH, of Baltimore, in the State of Maryland, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Oapstan-Head Feed-Motions for Rope or Twine Machines; and Ido hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and tothe letters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates more especially to the feed or draft mechanism employed in machines used for laying up twines or ropes, though it is applicable to machinery for other purposes.

Its construction and application in this specification are explained as an improvement on the invention shown in United States Letters Patent No. 364,371, to E. W. Price, June '7, 1887.

In the drawings, Figure 1 shows an elevation of the capstan-head in connection with a flier and its supporting devices. Fig. 2 shows a vertical section of the head, taken through its center in the line a: 00, Fig. 4.. Fig. 3 is an elevation of thehead, taken from one side of Fig. 1. Fig. 4 shows ahorizontal section taken on the line y y in Fig. 2.

It is thought that the mechanism would be more readily understood if the construction of the capstan-head proper were first ex plained, and then its position and connection with the other mechanism set forth. The frame 01. of the head supports the moving mechanism. It has two wings or flanges eX- tending from two opposite sides, in each pair of which a horizontal shaft 10 is fitted to turn freely. To these shafts are secured two worm gear-wheels h h, one wheel on the middle of each shaft, sothat they come between each pair of wings. (See Fig. 4.) Small pulleys a on, having one or more grooves in their peripheries, are made fast, one on each end of the two shafts 13, so that all the pulleys and gear-wheels on these shafts turn with them. A short vertical shaft 1' is fitted to turn freely in the center of the frame n,with a circular plate II firmly secured to its upper end, and a worm-wheel b is fastened to the same shaft near its lower end in a recess made through the cent-er of the frame at. The shaft 4" has a bearing in the frame above the worm-wheel, and also below it. The screw-thread on the worm-wheel b is fitted to engage with the teeth of the worm-gears h h, so that when the frame n is held still and the shaft 7, with the plate H and worm-wheel b, are turned, or the plate and worm are held still and the frame at and wheels revolve, a rotary motion in a vertical plane is given to the grooved pulleys a a. This latter position-the shaft rwith its plate and worm-gear standing still-is the one adopted in this case. This mechanism, constituting the capstanhead, is placed in the lower end of the flier A, (see Fig. 1,) to which it is made fast by having a portion of its lower end inserted in a recess in the flier, where it is held by the set-screw t. The flier A has a support at both its upper and lower ends. The upper end extends up into a recess in the plate L, which is firmly bolted to the top rail F, and its lower end is carried down through a bolster f, held in the middle rail D. A grooved pulley O is attached to the lower end of the flier that extends below the bolster, by means of which a rotary motion is given to the flier in the usual way. A movablerod J is fitted to slide freely through a hole in the plate L and top of the flier, but is prevented from turning by a pin g, inserted'in the rod and held in a slot in the plate L. This slot ta lertended in a horizontal direction on each side, that the pin g may turn under and the rod be prevented from rising while the machine. is running. The rod J is extended down through the center of the flier to hold the 'spool B, and its lower end enters a recess in the plate H. The lower end of the rod J is made forked, so that when it enters the recess in the plate it will straddle a pin d, (see Fig. 2,) passing through the hub and recess in the plate H. In this way the rod J, being held from turning by the pin 9 in its upper end, will hold the plate H and its shaft 0 and worm-wheel I) still by means of the pin d, while the flier and frame n,with its pulleys and gear-wheels, will be revolved around them by means of the pulley O. This, as before too explained, will, by means of the central wormwheel I) and worm-gears 71, give a vertical rotary motion to the grooved pulleys a a. The way in which this feeds or draws the twine from the strand-spools and feeds it to the upper twine-spool B is as follows: The strands e e e are supposed in Fig. 1 to come from spools set below, as shown in the patent before referred to. These strands are conducted through the opening in the lower end of the flier A and frame at and out through a side opening 3 in the frame, up around one of the grooved pulleys a, and over the other pulley on the same side of the frame n, and may pass back and forward around these two pulleys as many times as is required to produce sufficient friction between the twine and pulleys to draw it off of the spoolsbelow. From these pulleys the twine passes out through an opening in the flier, up on its outside, and then in through opening to the spool B, which stands 011 the stationary plate H. The friction between the plate and spool will cause the latter to drag as it is carried around by the twine and take up what twine the capstanhead draws from the spools below.

The speed of the feed, and consequently the number of twists per inch in the twine, are governed by the size of the pulleys a a, which are so arranged that they may be readily taken off and others of a different size substituted for them. It will be readily Seen that one pulley alone would feed the twine; but it is difiicult to carry the twine around a single pulley a suificient number of times to obtain the friction necessary to draw it oif of the strand-spools. For that reasonI prefer to use two pulleys to do the drawing of the twine, and by putting two pairs of pulleys on the head of different sizes I have two degrees of feed and twist always ready for use, and the head is thereby so nearly balanced that a very high rate of speed for such machines (over two thousand one hundred turns per minute) is attainable.

A reel similar to that shown in the patent above referred to may be substituted for the spool 13, if desired.

Having thus described my improved capstan-head feed, what Iclaim as my invention A feed-head for twine and rope machines, consisting of a frame carrying a central Vertical shaft having a wormwheel fastened thereon, and one or more horizontal shafts having bearings in said frame and having one or more feed-pulleys and a worm-gear wheel secured thereon,the worm-gear engaging with the central worm-wheel and being moved thereby, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

WILLIAM HOLLINGSWORTII.

\Vitnesses:

FRANCIS X. HOOPER, EDWARD L. WILSON. 

